YPG Debuts iPad App

Canada’s Yellow Pages Group becomes the second major YP publisher (after Yellowbook) to launch an app for the iPad. It also promotes other YPG properties, such as its Urbanizer iPhone app, Restaurantica and its deals site, RedFlagDeals.com. However the buttons below take users to the Internet versions of those sites rather than specially iPad/mobile optimized versions.

Overall my sense is that the app is a good start but can be tweaked improved, especially at the profile page level.

A couple of thoughts:

Three years ago I wrote about the “PC in the kitchen” that would replace the phone book. This is it — it’s where my iPad sits much of the time.

One of the simple YPG iPad app features that I like, which is relatively common across directory sites, is favorites and recent searches. This becomes an informal list of contacts — you can also add SMBs or locations to the formal iPad contacts — for quick reference. So in the kitchen this is like a phone book in a way. The potential for engagement around this simple idea is quite high.

The next step is for the iPad to become a phone, which it is with the Skype app, and integrate calling into an app like this. So when I tap the number above, Skype launches and I can call the business. YPG could track that call and get credit for delivering it. You get the idea.

The YPG iPad app is also a potentially great “deals” platform. Coupons/deals should be integrated into this app as well. One could imagine a Groupon-like local deal of the day . . .

4 Responses to “YPG Debuts iPad App”

Any company is able to create apps for these devices, and it’s great. I had a car transportation company ship my car across the country. I could always track the location of my car with Auto Shipping Network. It just keeps getting better for any kind of business.

Like Tim writes, from car moving, flight trackers and weather apps, to poker playing, food and cocktail recipes, maps, and documents to go apps are amazing from devices like iPads or iPhones… I enjoy them daily, and I am even planning to develop my own app to develop my car selling business… You can see the pix, the prices, and buy online!

It seems as though the possibilities for apps on the iPad and this yellow pages app in particular are endless. I am actually a little surprised that they did not come out with this sooner. The feature that allows for recent searches and favorites to be accessible is particularly useful in my opinion since people often forget what they were looking for and this will let them retrieve the information easily.